"My father's not an easy person to like," Alec said, pursing his lips briefly. His relationship with his father had been civil for a long time. They weren't close and Alec didn't feel comfortable opening up to him but he was family and Alec did love him. He just didn't know if he trusted his father the way he trusted his mother.

He trusted neither of them as much as he trusted Isabelle.

"She must have been different back then," Alec remarked quietly, thoughtfully. His mother had always been so severe, so regal and imperious that he could never picture her having anything close to fun. She was wholly dedicate to running the Institute and making sure the Law was followed without fail. Once upon time, his mother hadn't seen things in black and white. She'd seen gray areas and those gray areas had propelled her towards Valentine and towards the Circle. Alec knew she was still trying to atone for all that she'd done back then right now.

"They shouldn't have treated you like they did," he added in a much quieter tone. It wasn't so much an apology as a statement of fact. Alec wasn't the greatest fan of Downworlders but he could admit there were exceptions to his disdain. Several of them were in this room right now and he couldn't ever picture himself turning his back on Luke, on Magnus, just because something about them had changed.